A comprehensive design for social research on the mental health needs of Mexican Americans is proposed. The three-year project aims at the long-range goal of improving human service delivery systems, in particular that of mental health by providing research findings and a final cumulative product offering constructive suggestions for use by the existing system. Its major goals include: (1) a context evaluation or preliminary analysis of the state mental health service delivery system and sub-systems in terms of their effectiveness in providing services to Mexican Americans; (2) an assessment of the concept of the community mental health center and of the state system's implementation of PL 94-63 as it relates to the Mexican American population; (3) the design of a bilingual/multicultural human service delivery model relevant to the mental health needs of Mexican Americans in Texas; and (4) the development of policy and programmatic alternatives to enhance the utilization of the state mental health service delivery system by Mexican Americans. The rationale for the proposed methodology is that only through the application of a system's approach can we grasp the overall policy and programmatic dynamics determining the mental health care context offered to Mexican American communities. To create such a state-wide, empirically based perspective, the Texas Department of Mental Health & Mental Retardation is evaluating its institutions. Another aspect involves utilization of three levels of consultants, drawing on social and behavioral science expertise at the national and state levels, while simultaneously fostering a Texas regional network of consumers and mental health professionals for information gathering about local issues concerning Mexican American mental health. Regular publications of scholarly monographs and of a newsletter will make the project's findings available to state decision makers, the academic community and the general public.